Respect your opponent? Alex Davis says it's imperative in MMA

It seems odd to consider it, but there are few people more special in the life of a fighter than his opponent. After all, there is no fight without him. The right opponent will bring the best out of a fighter. Pick the wrong one, and everybody is left to simply take a break and buy a few beers.

But this is a very difficult and complex subject to understand. On fight week, you are always bumping into that guy. You go to the elevator, and there he is. Head to the gym, and chances are he will be on the treadmill – and that the only free machine will be the one right beside him.

Your opponent is not your friend. He is hoping to impose his will on you for 15 minute. He will seek to knock your head off and take away your soul, and he will do anything and everything in his power to obtain an advantage over you.

Some guys build up hate for their opponents. They start trashtalking, which of course makes the opponent trashtalk, as well, and things escalate quickly. That tension is great for promoting the show, it makes fights a little more interesting and entertaining as everybody hangs on to the edge of their seats to see how these guys face each other – and how they talk to each other (or maybe at each other).

Some fighters don’t have a problem with their opponents. They smile, shake the guy’s hands and are actually friendly. Other guys are the absolute opposite. I was on a van one time with Cole Miller, and we discussed this very subject. If you’ve ever seen Cole’s demeanor at a UFC weigh-in, his response will be of little surprise.

“These guys ain’t my homies,” Cole told me. “They aren’t my friends. No smiling, no handshaking! If there is a chance I am fighting someone, he is on my black list. No love whatsoever.”

I guess he has a point. And yet, you don’t have to have that attitude to be successful. Jon Fitch catches a lot of criticism from fans for his fighting style, but he’s inarguably one of the best welterweight fighters in the world and has been for quite some time.

Fitch takes a more objective look at the relationship between a fighter and his opponent, focusing simply on the challenge that each guy presents and how to deal with it. Fitch is a competitor. He’s does not enter the cage with the intent to hate anyone but instead just to challenge himself. He also went on to say something I found interesting.

Fitch said once he has fought someone, he tends to have a great relationship with that person. A relationship simply cannot get worse then being in the cage and trying to beat up on each other. Once that has happened, there really doesn’t seem to be a point in feeling a grudge anymore!

And how about the pre-fight staredown? Now that’s an intense moment if there ever was one! The promoter, who is doing his best to build up excitement for his event, puts these two guys (who are on the eve of a fight between each other) mere inches away from each other and makes them stare each other in the face! And these guys ain’t backing down. They will not give an inch. They cannot afford to – they cannot show a weakness. They need to seem indestructible. They need to show this guy that’s in their way that they will impose their will and will not have another will imposed on them. And, of course, many times the fight almost starts right then and there. All it needs is a word, a nudge, a brush. One millimeter closer, and it explodes.

We saw this exact moment one week ago when Antonio Silva and Alistair Overeem went face-to-face at the pre-UFC 156 media day. A bout that was already intriguing suddenly had everyone buzzing as the fight card came near.

But what is really great about MMA, what makes this sport noble, is that once the fight is over, many times you will fighters embrace at the conclusion of the fight. They even kiss each other! They gush forth with praise on how tough the other guy was. How cool was it when Anderson Silva invited Chael Sonnen to a barbecue at his house after months of calling each other the worst things possible?

This is what MMA is all about: the challenge, the moment, the excitement, the show. Fights feature two guys getting in a cage, surpassing all of their fears and all of the hurdles to get up there and show the world how good they are at what they do and how willing they are to face any and every odd. It takes a unique sort of person to do that – a person with a big heart and even bigger balls!

But as Overeem had to learn this past week, you must always respect your opponent. With any feelings aside, you must remember that you could not do this with out him.

Alex Davis is a lifelong practitioner of martial arts and a former Brazilian judo champion. A founding member of American Top Team, Davis currently oversees the careers of a number of prominent Brazilian fighters, including Edson Barboza, Luiz Cane, Rousimar Palhares, Antonio Silva and Thiago Tavares, among others. Davis is a frequent contributor to MMAjunkie.com, sharing his current views on the sport built through his perspectives that date back to the Brazilian roots of modern MMA.

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